CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Greater Cleveland Drug Court coordinator Dr. Daryl D. Jackson told a crowd of some 200 people Wednesday about the difference in how American society compares crack-cocaine addiction to heroin and opioid addiction.

“When you see individuals who are addicted to crack cocaine, they are often viewed as nasty, gutter, low-level individuals” he said. “When you see someone who could possibly be addicted to heroin, they are seen as ‘it’s a disease, it’s a mental health illness, it’s a sickness.’ So often individuals are looked at different because of their drug of choice.”

Jackson was one of 10 panelists, including Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley, who spoke at the drug-court symposium held at the Imani Temple Ministries. Many of those in attendance were drug court clients required to participate in the symposium as part of their program.

Several of the speakers echoed Jackson’s assessment that crack-cocaine use continues to carry a stigma that began during the mid-and-early 1980s at the height of President Ronald Reagan’s War of Drugs.

“Anyone who has the disease of addiction? They look alike,” said panelist Dr. Martina Moore, founder of Moore Counseling and Mediation Services.

The panelists also touched on the fact that while cocaine users may not think they’re using any opioids, they do not always know for sure what goes into their drugs. Cuyahoga County has seen a large spike of deaths in 2017 caused by an overdose of cocaine mixed with opiates – 19 deaths in January alone.

Michelle Baughman, a panelist and senior research associate at Case Western Reserve University, works with the drug court and is currently studying about 440 people who pass through the program.

“When we ask them, the first time we meet them, ‘What drugs did you use in the past 30 days?’ Almost 40 percent report using cocaine or crack,” Baughman said. “Regardless of what’s on the news every night, addiction is addiction and we see it with all substances.”

The Greater Cleveland Drug Court plans to continue holding symposiums like Wednesday night’s across the region, though the next date and topic have not been finalized.

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